Scarbinsky: Another nice (and boring) golf tournament

Could you pick winner Dan Forsman out of a crowd? (The Birmingham News / Frank Couch)Dan Forsman did something extraordinary over the weekend in our back yard.

He shot a 30 on the back nine Saturday and a 30 on the front nine Sunday at Ross Bridge. He followed a stunning 62 in the second round with a strong 66 in the final round of the Regions Charity Classic.

He won the tournament in a walk and collected a big fat cardboard check for $255,000.

And if you polled the general population, the majority would agree that nothing he did was as entertaining as the following sequence of events that took place in a 30-minute window on the first tee Thursday.

Taylor Hicks played the harmonica. Charles Barkley turned into a mime, tipping his hat to the applauding gallery, except he wasn’t wearing a hat. Brodie Croyle poked fun at himself for never winning the Iron Bowl.

As the former Alabama quarterback put his tee in the ground, first-tee announcer Jim Dunaway of CBS-42 started reading an impressive list of accomplishments – of former Alabama quarterback and golfing partner for the day John Parker Wilson.

Oops. One feat Dunaway mentioned: Beating Auburn 36-0.

Croyle and Wilson traded places, but not before Croyle quipped, ``I just wanted somebody to say I beat Auburn.’’

Now that’s entertainment.

The warm-up act is never supposed to upstage the headliner, but where else can you see an American Idol winner, one of the NBA’s 50 greatest players and not one but two beloved former Alabama quarterbacks in the same place?

The star-studded pro-am has set the Regions Charity Classic apart from other Champions Tour events from the start. The tournament histories section of the 2010 Champions Tour media guide includes only two pictures that don’t feature professional golfers.

In one, Bill Murray clowns around at the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am. In the other, Hicks and Barkley stroll down a fairway at the Regions Charity Classic.

The downside of all that star power is that it sets the pro-am apart from the actual tournament itself, and the gap gets bigger every year.

They’re all accomplished to different degrees but, to the average man in the street, they’re all anonymous. The last winner here who arrived with a major championship from the PGA Tour on his resume was Hale Irwin in 2001.

Nobody who’s won since has been a major somebody.

Forsman played like a multiple major winner for the longest time. He was 8-under through his first 11 holes Sunday, which made him 19-under for his previous 27 holes, which is outstanding stuff on any tour at any time.

But there’s a difference between excelling and exciting.

Forsman excelled, but he excited no one beyond his friends and family, especially when he returned to reality over the final six holes, gave back a couple of shots and failed to break the records he threatened.

It’s not Forsman’s fault that this tournament has grown a bit stale after 19 years. Don’t blame him because, when he backed up on the back nine, no one charged ahead to challenge his lead and add a buzz to the finish.

How is a final threesome of Forsman, Bobby Clampett and Peter Senior supposed to move the masses like a pairing of Nick Saban and Cornelius Bennett? How are the real golfers supposed to get people excited when Auburn and Alabama fans will show up just to watch Gene Chizik and Anthony Grant putt?

Despite Sunday’s spotty weather, there was a nice crowd around 18 as the final group reached the final green. It was a nice cap to a nice week all around.

Overall, though, you could describe the tournament as Senior did his final round, which ended with 12 straight pars: ``It wasn’t very exciting.’’